1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle (sometimes abbreviated to xe2x80x9cATVxe2x80x9d) provided on its front part with a protective front guard and a winch for towing and, more specifically, to a winch supporting structure incorporated into a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
The present invention also relates to a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle having a body frame, a front carrier mounted on the body frame so as to permit loading baggage thereon from the front side thereof, a handlebar for steering front wheels, a seat or straddle type seat disposed behind the handlebar, a rear carrier disposed behind the saddle, a front fender disposed below the front carrier so as to cover the front wheels, and a front guard formed by assembling pipe members as principal components and, more specifically, to the front guard mounted on a front part of the body of the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle (hereinafter referred to simply as xe2x80x9cvehiclexe2x80x9d) often travels rugged places. A winch included in the vehicle is used for towing a heavy matter or hauling the vehicle out of a marshy place by fastening one end of a tow rope to a fixed object, such as a tree, and winding the tow rope.
FIG. 13 shows a conventional straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle 270 (hereinafter referred to simply as xe2x80x9cvehicle 270xe2x80x9d) provided with a winch 271. Usually, the winch 271 is supported on a special winch supporting structure 272 disposed in front of a front guard 273. The winch 271 is protected by a winch guard 274.
The conventional vehicle 270 provided with the winch 271 has the following problems to be solved.
(1) Part of the winch projecting forward from the body of the vehicle is a nuisance to operations for controlling the vehicle and it is possible for the winch to collide against an obstacle and to be damaged.
(2) The winch supporting structure must be strongly built, needs many parts and is heavy and expensive.
(3) The winch projecting forward from the vehicle spoils the appearance of the vehicle.
(4) A vehicle provided with a winch and a vehicle not provided with any winch have different constructions, respectively. Therefore, a winch supporting structure must be specially added to a vehicle originally not provided with any winch when incorporating a winch to the same vehicle, which is difficult and increases the cost of the vehicle greatly.
Moreover, generally, the front guard of the aforesaid vehicle is strongly built by assembling large-diameter pipe members so that the same may not be damaged when the same collides against rocks or branches of trees because the vehicle travels places of rough terrain.
As shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, a conventional front guard 251 is a unitary structure formed by uniting together big pipes of the same large outside diameter and is joined to a front end part of a body frame 255. FIG. 14B shows the front guard 251 shown in FIG. 14A disconnected from the front end part of the body frame 255. The front guard 251 is provided in its upper part with a lateral frame 252. FIG. 15 shows a front guard 261 integrally combined with a grille 262. The grille 262 is surrounded by side frames 263 and a lateral frame 264. The side frames 263 and the lateral frame 264 are formed by welding together big pipe members.
Conventional front guards are disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Publication Nos. Hei 5-58365 and Hei 3-14780. Both of the front guards are unitary structure formed by welding together big pipe members of the same outside diameter and are joined to a front end part of a body frame with bolts.
The conventional front guards, however, have the following problems.
(1) Although a part to be joined to the body frame of the vehicle must be strongly built of big pipe members, the front guard has a needlessly large weight if other parts, such as parts for protecting the front fender and headlights, of the front guard are formed of big pipe members of the same outside diameter as that of the pipe members forming the part to be joined to the body frame, which is an obstruct to the reduction of the body weight of the vehicle.
(2) Parts for protecting the front fender and the headlights of the front guard are frames respectively having complicated shapes, which are difficult to fabricate by assembling big pipe members and needs a high manufacturing cost.
(3) The front guard of a unitary structure formed by integrally uniting together big pipe members takes much time and needs difficult work for joining the same to and removing the same from the body frame of the vehicle, must be accurately formed and is costly.
The present invention has been made in view of the aforesaid problems and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle provided with a winch supporting structure capable of supporting a winch thereon such that the winch or a member associated with the winch does not project forward from a body of the vehicle, of limiting increase in the number of parts, weight and cost to the least possible extent and of facilitating mounting the winch thereon.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a front guard for a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle, formed in a relatively lightweight construction and capable of being easily fabricated at a low cost and of effectively reducing body weight.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle includes: a body frame having a front end part; a front guard joined to the front end part of the body frame; and a winch unit including an electric winch and a guide roller mechanism for guiding a tow rope, the electric winch and the guide roller mechanism being arranged longitudinally from a rear toward a front in that order in a lower part of a space in the front guard.
In the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle according to the present invention, the guide roller mechanism and the electric winch are disposed in the space in the front guard and none of the parts of them project outside from the front guard. Therefore, the winch and the guide roller mechanism do not obstruct operations for controlling the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. The straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle does not need any additional guard members specially for protecting the winch and the guide roller mechanism. The winch and the guide roller mechanism do not spoil the appearance of the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle. The front guard joined to the front end part of the body frame is able to protect the winch and the guide roller mechanism from rocks and branches of trees.
Preferably, the body frame has right and left lower frame members each having a front end. The front guard has right and left lower members joined to the front ends of the right and left lower frame members of the body frame and extending forward from the front ends of the right and left lower frame members, right and left front members extending upward from the right and left lower members, and a lower cross member extending between the right and left lower members. A winch support member for supporting the electric winch is joined to the lower cross member of the front guard.
Since the winch supporting member is joined to the lower cross member, i.e., the load-bearing member, of the front guard, increase in the number of parts and weight can be limited to the least extent and it can be produced easily. Since the winch supporting member is provided to the lower cross member of the front guard, a winch can be incorporated into a vehicle originally not provided with any winch without requiring any additional members.
In the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle according to the present invention, it is desirable that a guide roller mechanism support member capable of detachably supporting the guide roller mechanism in front of the electric winch is formed integrally with the winch support member.
Thus, the guide roller mechanism for guiding the tow rope can be easily mounted on the front guard without using any additional members.
In the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle according to the present invention, it is desirable that the electric winch is disposed in a space between a lower part of a radiator for cooling an engine cooling water disposed in a front part of the body frame and the lower cross member. A baffle plate is disposed over the winch so as to extend between the front members of the front guard and the lower part of the radiator.
Thus, the winch disposed in the front part of the vehicle does not obstruct the flow of cooling air from the front of the vehicle toward the radiator. Since the winch is disposed in the space between the lower part of the radiator and the lower cross member extended between the lower members, the winch is not disposed in front of the radiator. Since the baffle plate is disposed above the winch, cooling air is able to flow substantially straight toward the radiator and hence the cooling effect is not reduced by the winch.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a front guard formed mostly of pipe members and joined to a front end of a body frame included in a straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle comprising the body frame, a front carrier mounted on a front part of the body frame and permitting loading a baggage thereon from a front, a handlebar for steering front wheels, a seat for a driver disposed behind the handlebar, a rear carrier disposed behind the saddle, and a front fender disposed below the front carrier so as to cover the front wheels; the front guard includes: an upper guard frame; and a lower guard frame detachably joined to the upper guard frame. The lower guard frame is joined to front ends of right and left upper and lower frame members included in the body frame. The pipe members forming the upper guard frame have a diameter smaller than a diameter of the pipe members forming the lower guard frame.
In the straddle type four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle according to the second aspect of the present invention, the front guard is divided into the upper and the lower guard frame, the lower guard frame is joined to the upper and lower frame members of the body frame to secure a strength required of the front guard, and the upper guard frame that does not need to be very strong is formed of the pipe members having a relatively small diameter. Thus, the front guard is relatively lightweight and can be easily fabricatedatrelativelylowmaterialandprocessingcosts. only the lower guard frame of the front guard is joined to the upper and the lower frame members of the body frame. The upper guard frame of the front guard can be separated from the lower guard frame. Therefore, the front guard can be easily joined to the body frame. Separation of the upper guard frame of the front guard from the lower guard frame of the same facilitates work for the maintenance of parts disposed behind the front guard.
Preferably, a lower end part of the upper guard frame is fastened to an upper end part of the lower guard frame with a bolt. An upper end part of the upper guard frame is fastened to a lower part of the front carrier with a bolt.
Thus, the upper guard frame of the front guard can be easily joined to the upper end part of the lower guard frame of the front guard and the front carrier. Therefore, the upper guard frame of the front guard is simple in construction, can be disposed in front of an upper front part of the body of the vehicle and is capable of effectively protecting the lamps and the fender and of supporting the front carrier.
Preferably, the lower guard frame of the front guard includes a pair of side members curved in the shape of the letter C, a cross member joined to the lower ends of the pair of side members, and stay members extending obliquely upward from upper end parts of the pair of side members, and the lower guard frame can be fastened to the front ends of the upper and the lower frame members with bolts.
Sufficient strength can be easily given to the front guard. A front part of the body frame can be sufficiently reinforced by thus combing the front guard integrally with the body frame.